


Continue?

by Katreal



Series: A Tale of Consequences [1]
Category: Undertale, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk, I'm bad at tagging things, Mentions/Thoughts/Ideas of Suicide, Mostly third person, Non-canon world building, POV shenanigans, Possession (you know who), Sans Doesn't Remember Resets, Sans is aware of them though, So technically an AU, Sparse 1st/2nd, Spoilers - Undertale Genocide Route, Spoilers - Undertale Pacifist Route, Undertale Saves and Resets, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-07
Packaged: 2018-07-22 02:08:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7415116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katreal/pseuds/Katreal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are no rewards or punishments - only consequences. Every game over, Frisk is given a choice. Continue from their last save, or to reset. One time, a one-hit KO missed...and Frisk takes a third option. Sans won't let this reset be the last, no matter what they want.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The knife fell.

It clattered against the floor of the judgement hall.

A sharp, echoing sound.

Metal against tile.

It rattled in his skull, the grating sound only broken by the human’s harsh breathing. And they were still breathing, even after having a dozen magical projections impaled through their body.

 _Che._ He’d missed the immediate kill. He must be more tired than he expected. But it didn’t matter. With the way the blood was flowing into the cracks in the judgement hall floor, they wouldn’t last long anyway.

He closed his eyes, bone rippling with magic reshaped by his emotions. Exhaling, dropping his shaking, skeletal hand, the blue glow ebbing away as he waited for the inevitable. For the slow ebbing feeling as the world shifted, twisted and molded by another’s will. Yes. Reset it all.

Reset it all so he wouldn’t have to remember anymore.

Reset it all so he could have his world back.

“If we’re really friends…” The words sounded hollow, even to him. What kind of friends would do that? “Don’t come back.”

“You...missed…”

…the human’s voice. He’d never heard it before. As expected, it was accompanied by the same deja vu that had been plaguing him for...it felt like ever. Like he’d known it before. Very well. Even now, with it cracked with pain.

He opened his eyes, expecting to see the human struggling to their feet. Clutching the knife in shaking hand. Hah. Determination. What a load of—

…no. There they were, a pitiful pile of meat and blood, limp against the once clean floor. The human’s soul flickered above their body, once a bright, beautiful red… now almost grey.

“Human…” Laughter was ringing in his voice even as he trembled. Bony fingers curling into fists where he’d habitually stuffed them into the pocket of his hoodie. “Just get it over with.”

The body on the floor shook, head slowly turning. Gasps becoming quicker and more irregular. Still alive. Once Sans might have envied the tenacity. After twenty five times he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

“you won’t give up. I know that. You know that. We’ve done this song and dance too many times. At least make the right choice this time.”

My brother.

Dirty brother killer.

“I—I’m sorry.” The voice was a mere whisper between ragged breaths. The human’s soul was flickering. Any moment now. _Sorrysorrysorrysorry.Ican’tdothisanymore.Ijustcan’t._

Any moment now and it would all fall away from him. Memories fading like a waking dream as the world rewound itself, only leaving him with the faintest impressions that he’d been doing this all before.

But even knowing that...he could barely stand to listen to the pathetic lump of flesh dying on the floor.

So much killing. So much death. He’d lost papyrus to that demon. Had seen it in his dreams too often to count. He even knew this wasn’t likely the end. It never was. He’d killed that kid twenty-fucking-five times before they’d given in to his mercy.

Even despite all that, he _hated_ hearing a kid cry.

It took twenty minutes for the soul to finally shatter. He waited the entire time, it was the least he could do. The soul faded. Splintered. And shattered. He closed his eyes.

_“If we’re really friends...don’t come back.”_

Sans’ internal counter ticked up to 26 and he sighed. Of course they’d come back. They always did. “I guess that means we never really WERE friends, huh?”

That thought hurt him more than he expected it to. What about that photo? Was that all a lie too?

Raspy laughter bubbled up behind him.

“Oh you _got me_ , partner.” The kid giggled, coughing up blood. The tiny body shuddered, “ _Cheater cheater_ , did you forget our promise? No reset is a continue. An ending for an ending. This is still _my_ turn.”

They shuddered, soul pulsing with determination.  Soul darkening  from red to almost black.

There was a reason he was the Judge. He could see into a soul. Could feel the weight of their accumulated LV. And this kid…

Well. There were no words. He held out a hand as the kid struggled to their feet, smile stretched like a gaping wound, dark splotches drying against their chin. They groped for the knife, but Sans kicked it away, the worn gardening knife skittering across the judgement hall with a series of metallic scrapes. Too far to lunge, even if they could move reliably without keeling over.

Suddenly the kid threw back their head and laughed, “Fine! I’ll play your game! We’ll see who cracks first!”

A wet snap echoed through the  judgement hall as bone impacted flesh. The human choked, slumped over the magical constructs piercing their chest. Red eyes met Sans’ glowing blue one. And grinned.

The soul splintered into a dozen pieces--

_“If we’re really friends...don’t come back.”_

The scripted words trailed off. Sans’ shoulders slumped and he muttered, “Twenty Seven. Aren’t you tired of this by now?”

His only answer was pained breathing. The red stain slowly crept across the judgement hall floor.

He settled in to wait it out, but then the human spoke.

“I--I’m s-s-orry.”

“It’s too late for that, pal.” He was tired. Sans slid his hands into the pockets of his jacket.  “If you really cared about that, about…” _him_ “You’d go back. You’d quit before you’d even started. You’d do something else, and leave us alone.”

“I--I can’t.” The eyes that stared up at him through half-closed lids were brown. Empty. Resigned. “If…I go back…It won’t stop.”

The liquid slowly rolling down the human’s face…wasn’t blood.

“I…can’t do this again.”

“So you’d rather leave them dead? Just like that?” He couldn’t even summon the energy to be angry. Not anymore. What was the point? He’d get mad and kill them and then they’d be right here again.

…nothing.

“Kiddo?” The moniker slipped out, sounding right even as he recoiled from the thought of lessening the emotional distance from this killer. The kid’s soul flickered. It was almost invisible, a faint grey patch against the human’s blood stained shirt. This wasn’t right, the memory fragments told him. Human souls lingered after death. Everyone knew that. They could be shattered. But they didn’t...

…fade.

He didn’t think. He reached hesitantly for it. It faded between his fingers, leaving a faint warmth tingling an apology against the white bones.

...this wasn’t in his notes. The implications were worrying though.

Determination. The will to live. To survive. This was the magic in a human’s soul.

If that magic faded, could this be the last reset?

That thought chilled him to the bone.

He didn’t want to live in a world like this.

Sans knelt down and grabbed the human’s ruined shirt. He grunted, feeling for the human’s soul. Searching. It was so faint he could barely tell it still existed, only the child’s breathing proving to him that this wasn’t a soulless husk.

...there. The faintest flicker of a flame. A tiny pulse. _Ping._

Cyan magic wrapped around the limp human, dragging them along with his hand. Up, off the ground. His left eye burned, blazing blue as he calculated the map coordinates and reached.

The judgement hall was empty.


	2. Chapter 2

“w-w-why would you bring that… _thing_ here?”

You hear a voice. It’s muffled, but somehow you know it’s talking about you. You curl your knees up to your chest, wrapping your arms around them in a vain attempt to shield yourself. No one notices. Of course, no one would notice someone as weak as you.

“A-are you m-mad? W-why didn’t you just l-let it d-die?”

You feel light. Floating. Somehow you can still breathe despite an oddly cool, slick pressure pressing in around you. Buoying you. It leeches the pain away, little by little, numbing aching body and limbs.  It feels...green. Like brushing up against Tsundareplane. Green and fresh and clean. Healing magic.

But even healing magic can do nothing for your heart. Wild fluttering. Beating. Trying to brute force its way out of your ribcage. It does nothing for the lump in your throat, lodged in firmly and threatening to stop the air you keep unconsciously gulping. It hurts, not in your body, but your mind. In your heart. You remember them. You remember them all. You could have been happy. You could have been happy once, but then you remembered Asriel. You couldn’t leave him like that.

“Y-you’ve seen w-what i-it did! Y-your b-brother! M-mettaton! U-u-nd-d-d-y—!”

The voice cracked into a keening sob. You know who it is now. You haven’t seen her since the first round, when everything was hard, but happy. When you’d made such great pals, even if most of your interactions involved socially awkward penguins and status updates. Now she’s always gone. Nowhere to be seen. Hiding from _you._ Such a scary little human you are.

“s-sans, you k-know I-I t-trust you b-but…”

_No._

It’ll be good to see her again, you think. You’ve missed her, a little. You’ve seen the others so many times now…

“t-talk to m-me. P-please.”

_NO._

“y-you’re s-starting to s-scare m-me”

…you wonder just how beautifully she’d _die_.

“NO!”

The scream tore itself from your throat.

I just laughed, drowning out your words, turning it into a garbled mess. You force your eyes open, blearily, barely able to see through the light green tinted container you find yourself in. The clarity of mind you’d experienced as Sans killed you was gone. Did you think I would let you die? I told you I’d play your game.

I’m fair. I promised you’d always get to choose, didn’t I? Every death. Continue or reset.

But if you reset...I get to have my fun all over again. I don’t mind, more practice for me.

Small fists pound against the glass. Frantic. Wild. A caged beast, yowling at the bars. You are desperate to escape. But you can never escape. Not from me.

You had your ending. You threw it away.

This is my story now, Frisk. You wanted to know how to help Flowey didn’t you? How better to learn than to try it his way for a change?

A silhouette through the green glass. A pinprick of blue light, blazing in an empty eye socket. Watching. Always watching. You wish he’d killed you this time, just as he had all the others. Only this time you would have lain there and taken it. Taken the coward’s way out.

It hadn’t worked. You could never win. He’s selfish. They all were. He _needed_ that reset, and  
wasn’t about to let your weakness deny him even the faintest sliver of hope of the happy ending you had thrown away.

 _Chara!_ That old fool’s words echo across time. _You’ve got to stay determined!_

I smile, and it horrifies you. You recoil from the glass, wailing from a throat that couldn’t scream. I had your voice. I had _you_.

Blue flared, your body slams into the glass, and everything faded to black. Your soul cracks, allowing my determination to seep through. I smile, nudging the splintering heart to continue… I AM Determination. You cannot stop me. You can only move forward _with_ me.

_“If we’re really friends…Don’t come back.”_

Seeing Sans looming above you, back lit by the golden windows. Feeling the life leak away with each weakening breath…

It fills you with Determination.

This is what you want. To just let it end.

You notice Sans frown, shaking his head before he reached out. He was supposed to say something now…

You were just...so tired.

So pathetic.

There was no turning back for you.

I laughed as everything went black. It’s your fault, partner. You changed the game. Fine, save while you were dying. Save where your body isn’t in any shape to continue. There’s two outcomes.

He leaves you to die, and then we end up here again...

Or he’ll save _you,_ and you’ll need to live with what you’ve chosen.

You won’t ever get what you want.

Good luck, partner.


	3. Chapter 3

Sans sat with his back to the glass. It was cold even through the bulk of his hoodie. It seemed to settle deep in his bones, threatening to rattle them from the chill alone.

Was it really the glass though? Could it be the thing inside?

_Hey…my brother’s always wanted to catch a human… could you…you know…pretend to be one?_

He’d known something was off even back then-- _why hadn’t he done something then?--_ but…he’d hoped…

Papyrus’ belief was infectious. He’d been convinced they just had to show to human another way. He’d had to try. To give them a chance. Give that future a chance, even as some part of his mind recoiled at the number of chances he must have given.

Alphys had it easy. She could look at the terrors of the now. She could point at the recordings of Pap—Undyne’s battle and Mettaton’s sacrifice and feel nothing but fear and loathing for the thing trapped behind the glass. She rightly didn’t want them here. This lab held enough ghosts for her, and that wasn’t counting the amalgamations that stalked the halls.

_I feel like we could have been really good friends kiddo. Once._

Facing him across from the judgement hall. Bloodshot eyes and a manic smile, and the distinct feeling that he knew _exactly_ how many times they’d done this before.

His internal counter was up to 28. Damn kid must have saved after his failed mercy attack. Couldn’t even let him live down one little mistake.

He’d felt like he’d been there before. S _tanding there_ with the kid’s glassy brown eyes staring up at him. It was the expression of someone who _wanted_ to die. Fingers of bone as well as magic had closed around the faded red soul for the moment before teleporting, a shock shooting through him.

That was different.

It was an ache in his bones that still hadn’t gone away. It pulsed like a beacon, stirring at his magic. A warmth to his back. One he wasn’t quite sure if it was a comforting candle or a dangerous inferno. Probably both.

The monitor blipped. Sans didn’t need the indication, but his eyes followed it anyway toward the wavering heart shape on the screen. It was a bright red that he knew didn’t reflect reality. If he turned and looked, if he pulled the soul from the human’s chest, it would be the same off-colored pink ever since he’d knocked out--wait...they’d fainted hadn’t they? It got fuzzy there. Frowning, Sans checked the monitor again. The human’s vitals seemed stable, at least he’d managed to remember the half dozen commands Alphys had used to activate the healing aura. He had a sneaking suspicion if he’d been much slower they’d be back in the judgement hall again.

Despite the weak numbers, he could feel it. The soul’s presence was a cold burn at his back. It shouldn’t be possible. He shouldn’t have been able to reach it.

Sans was used to weird things happening around him. He would take it and roll with it like he always did.

Sans raised a hand. The magic burned in his left eye, his vision darkening as the other eyelight winked out. He reached for the soul he could feel behind him.

“Time to get up.”

He dragged the soul forward, watching the red take on a blue tinge on the square monitor. He kept his hold on the human’s soul, barely even noticing a struggle. Where before, they’d been able to shake off his grip after a turn through sheer force of will, now he held them there with ease.

Sans slowly stood up, turning to face the human, one hand still raised, directing the magic tethers holding the human in place. He saw them flinch. Turning their head away. Sans couldn’t help the wry laughter. “What? Don’t have the _guts_ to look at me? Even after I got you all healed up and everything?”

Not that it had been easy to convince Alphys to show him how it all worked...

They flinched again. Fists clenched at their side. Out of the corner of his eye Sans noticed the monitor blip. The soul gaining a red tint. It warred with the blue, before his hold snapped and the human slumped to the floor. Sans whistled, shaking his hand as if it stung, “Gotta hand it to you kid, I didn’t think you had it in you. Guess there’s some fight left to you, huh?”

The human said nothing.

“What? Cat got your tongue?” Sans eased both hands into his hoodie. Slouching. “C’mon. Talk to me kid. _Don’t you know how to greet an old pal?”_

 _That_ got their attention. He could feel it by the way their soul wavered. Positively bone-chilling. It sent a shiver up his spine. The magic had been broken, but he could still feel it. Close enough if he just wanted to...

“I guess we aren’t really pals now, are we?” Sans mused aloud, “Too much bad blood between us for that. I’m not my bro.”

Silence. Sans let out a sigh. Withdrawing a hand and snapping his thumb and forefinger again. The human’s soul materialized, a light pink ghostly heart hovering above their limp body.

_Ping!_

His magic flared and the heart tinged blue. He could feel the human’s will rise. The red bleeding in as they fought back, but Sans didn’t give them a chance. He crooked his finger and the human slammed into the glass, letting out an unintentional cry of pain.

“Pap believed in you until the end, you know. He always did, even as you stabbed your little knife into his chest.” Sans continued conversationally, stunning the human against the glass with a flick of his hand every time they looked like they were trying to break his hold. “I _wanted_ to believe in him, if nothing else. You have no idea how hard I wanted to believe that you could be a good person. Or at the very least make a good decision.  I have dreams of following him out into the snow. Of watching it. Of kneeling down and finding his dust covered scarf that you left behind without even a backwards glance. I couldn’t find it this time, you know. The snow had buried it.”

Nothing. But he could feel the fight bleeding out of them again. He didn’t know what he was expecting. Maybe he wasn’t expecting anything. Numb. Maybe manic laughter. Pitiful pleading. To break down into tears... Not this…stony silence.  Not the blackness of despair building in those eyes.

With a rattling breath to steady himself he pushed forwards.

 “You’re wondering why I don’t just kill you, eh? Alphys asked me the same thing.” Sans relaxed his grip, settling the human’s feet on the floor, but just that. He kept his tethers on the soul, keeping the human from collapsing inward on themselves again. “By all rights I should just take your soul to the king. Yeah the underground is devastated thanks to your little killing spree, but Alphys and I managed to get enough people into hiding that we aren’t entirely wiped out. 7 human souls. That’s what’s needed to open the barrier. Even with your little hopeless act, you still have a stronger soul than a monster. You could break my magic if you really wanted to. It would work.” Sans slipped his hand back into his hoodie jacket, the human wobbling, but staying on their feet.

“Wanna know why, kid?”

The human, who had been staring at the floor this entire time, looked up. Waiting. And then closed their eyes fully.

“You could end this all by going back. But you don’t. You _won’t._ I’m dead tired of you screwing with timelines, but this world you created isn’t one I want to be the last, capice?”

The human took a shaking breath. And then another. And another.

Sans sighed, shrugging, “What d’ya say you do your thing, and we get on with our lives?”

“I wouldn’t be able to…stop… next time…”

“You mentioned that before.” Sans drawled lazily, he couldn’t _remember_ it, but it felt right. Just like the human’s voice. Something shivered in their soul, trembling in his magic’s grasp, but not fighting. Not yet.. He glanced down at his hand, flexing and cracking the delicate bones. He hadn’t done this much magic...well...since…

Since…

A yawning pit opened in his memories, grasping at memories that weren’t there.

Sans suddenly felt tired. He wouldn’t even get to sleep for a week to fix it either. One way or another, he’d be thrown back into this hell.

“I tried...to stop. Many times.” The human didn’t seem to mind when Sans sank to the floor, arranging his legs into a cross-legged position. They were still staring at their...hands? Small fists were shaking. Opening. Closing.

_Lost in the blinding snow, shivering not from the wind cutting through his hoodie, but from the dread that resonated in his soul. Papyrus had gone out to face the human._

“I...reset. Again. And Again. And again.” They were trembling. “And again...and again...and again…”

“Breathe kid.”

The human froze, shaking themselves.

“Dust…” They said at last. Voice croaking. “A-always...d-dust…A-and I’d be further. S-someone else d-dead.”

Sans was looking for it now. He noticed the _second_ it changed. The human threw their head back to laugh, eyes glittering with a demonic glee. The soul suddenly burned a dark red, shading to black, itching to start a fight despite the thick glass between them. Even without a weapon.

Sans used the last seconds before his grip broke and slammed the body into the ground. Stunning the human and holding them there. He steeled himself--sometimes he was thankful for his smile. It made it easier to bluff. “Well, well. Looks like the megalomaniac decided to come out to play. Man, I was starting to enjoy the _sane_ human.”

“I know what you want~” The words were almost sing songed amidst the giggles. The human rolled onto their back, staring up at him through the tinted glass. Thier smile was wide, slitting the formerly melancholic face in a manic grin.  Almost as if someone had taken a knife and drawn it jaggedly across it.

“I’m not surprised. I haven’t been particularly vague about it.” Magic burned in his left eye, even as beads of sweat began to tickle his skull. He seriously needed a nap. Or twelve.

“They can’t help you.” Sans was sure that was supposed to be a sweet smile. It was just chilling. “Even if they give up their game, it won’t stop. They’ve had their ending. _I_ could give you what you want. But why would I?” They giggled. “It’s my turn. It’s only fair, isn’t it? ”

 _“_ Hey, I’ve got a question for ya.”

The confusion on the not-child’s face was hysterical. They’d obviously expected something different.

“Do you think even the worst person can change?”

“You’ve asked me that already.”

“Did I?” Sans shrugged, “Did you ever give me an answer?”

With a chilling scream the child smashed into the glass before him, small fists pounding again and again into the steadily weakening glass. The part of him that had once been a scientist was fascinated, such strength from such a small body. The rest of him scoffed at that and snagged the human by the soul and smashed them against the ground. And then the ceiling. And the ground again.

“Point taken.”

The soul cracked. Sans felt it this time, a sharp pain knifing through his ribcage.

_“If we’re really friends…Don’t…”_

He trailed off. Blinking at the golden light spilling through the stained windows, coloring the tiles red and hiding the stain spreading before him.

The translucent soul floated above the human’s chest, pulsing erratically. Dark red, almost black. Shading down to light pink, almost  grey. And back. And forth. Black. Pink.

A heartbeat rattled his bones, echoing in his skull. It pulsed in time with the erratic soul.

Skeletons didn’t have hearts.

  1. The thought drifted to him. 29 times.



He reached down grabbed the child’s arm, flinching as his fingerbones came away red with blood.

“Kid. C’mon. I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”

Pained brown eyes creaked open. Good, he hadn’t lost them yet. Somehow he knew he didn’t have much time before they passed out.

“Why _now?”_ The scene almost seemed routine now. They’d done _THIS_ before. He _knew_ it. This very moment. “Of all the places to reload...why _here?”_

Their breathing was harsh. They didn’t respond, and Sans almost worried that they’d faint from bloodloss.

“...game over…”

He went rigid, his fingers digging into the blood-covered sleeve. They flinched.

“...is this just a game to you?” The gold and red light filling the judgement hall dimmed as his eye-lights darkened. “Was it _all_ just a game?”

“No…” they were struggling to speak. The arm in his grip trembled. “but it’s a rule. Game over is _my_ choice.”

Suddenly their expression shifted, and they doubled over. Curling up. Sans was reaching for a shortcut before he noticed the black cracks spreading through the lighter soul. The now familiar cold fire shuddered, stuttering. Sans didn’t need a monitor to know their already depleted HP was steadily draining away like the sluggish blood on the tile floor.

“...c-continue…”

“Don’t talk.” He snapped, calculating the map values for the intensive care unit instead of the containment cell. Both had some measure of green magic to sustain the occupant, but soul damage was beyond the specs for the latter. Something nagged at him. This was wrong. Too soon. Normally he had more time.

“Or r-res--t.”

It splintered with a gasp. The cracks burning bright as it tried to hold together. The kid’s mouth tried to move, but they hacked instead, words and intention caught and garbled as if something _else_ had a hand to their throat.

“S-s-st--p--” The kid didn’t listen. Were those even words? “P-pr--om--i--s--”

Cyan light engulfed them both, and Sans stepped into the void.

The soul shattered, red shards crumbling in his palm.

“ _If we’re really…”_

30.

He didn’t even continue the thought.

This time, Sans remembered.

He stared down at the dying child. Their expression wasn’t worth describing.

...he was just so tired. His limbs felt like lead, weighing him down even as he mechanically reached for the human. The child was out cold, the stress of the reload completely knocking them out.

Was this how they felt every time?

He didn’t waste time trying to talk this time, taking them straight to the containment cell and getting them under the observation of the monitoring equipment. His hands mechanically navigated the unfamiliar-familiar machine, activating the magical aura and monitoring systems like he had seen Alphys do. Like he’d done. Every other time. Routine.

Just the same.

He kept an eyesocket on the soul. No sign of those black cracks. The sense of the fire was weak, but steady.

Something had been different.

 _Something_ had tried to stop the kid from talking.

A brilliant red soul, flashing between pink and black.

Black cracks.

**_My_ ** _choice._

...This time…

Cracked glass spiderwebbed through his mind.

Was there _any_ way to break the loop?

Was it even worth it to try?

Were they doomed to end up back in the judgement hall forever?

Maybe he should have let them kill him. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with this.


	4. Chapter 4

Inevitably, the storm would end, ebbing away and leaving the human lost and listless on the floor of the cell.

No. Not the human. Frisk. _Frisk._

They clung to their name, using it as a wall to shore up their feeble defense against the other. They didn’t know how much more they could take. Each attack chipped away at their will. The other was wrong. They weren’t pathetic. They weren’t done. Even Sans was wrong. Frisk wasn’t giving up.

_I can’t do it again._

End the circle and the other could never hurt anyone again.

They wished they could go back and end it before it started. To undo the lives the other had taken.

They’d tried.

They’d tried so many times.

This was the most...free they’d been in...they didn’t even know how many resets.

All because Sans missed.

It had been Game Over.

Frisk trembled, waiting for the other to swoop back in and begin dictating again. They were there. Frisk could feel them. Waiting. But waiting for what? To try and goad Sans into killing them again?

They hurt. Hurt so much. Even the ambient aura of green magic couldn’t cure wounds of the soul. Frisk took each one and stored them away, tucking them deep down, away from the other. It was Frisk’s pain, and Frisk’s alone.

Something beeped. Some sort of sound muffled by the thick glass surrounding them. Frisk almost didn’t care, but decided to look away. They carefully raised their head, eyes hidden behind overlong bangs as they strained to see what was beyond the tinted, cloudy glass.

A shadow, short and round. Leaning against the glass. Frisk crawled closer, each movement exaggerating their healing wounds, but they were focused on that splash of blue even through the glass’ green tint.

_Sans._

His snores reverberated through the glass. Frisk couldn’t help a smile. Skeletons didn’t have to breathe. Frisk was pretty sure they didn’t have to snore either.

They curled up with their back against the curved glass, only a few inches from his. Something about the monster made them feel safe. Even if he’d killed them 30 times. Frisk would die 30 more times if it meant they would never have to kill a friend again. He was _here._ He was the one person Frisk had never been able to kill. One more reset, and he’d be gone too. They knew it. It happened with Papyrus when they’d fallen crying into his arms. Reset. Dust. They eventually let Undyne impale them, intent on making things right next time. Rest. Dust.

_I wish I could stop…_

Frisk couldn’t say the words, even if they could force their throat to work.

The other giggled

_Can you do it, partner?_

_Could you look him in the eye and tell him no?_

_Tell him his brother is dead forever, just to feel better about yourself?_

...Sometimes the freedom of choice was like a dagger to the heart. They hugged their knees to their chest, small wordless sobs lost amongst the skeleton’s faltering snores.

They couldn’t do this anymore.

Not alone.

_But you are never alone, partner. You have **me.**_

x-x-x.

Eventually the quiet noises trailed off into restless sleep.

Sans cracked open an eye and glanced up at the amalgamate. The tall indistinct humanoid just stared blankly at him.

“Hey. You can phase through stuff right?”

It didn’t say anything. But it did shift. Slowly.

“Think you could get the kid a blanket? Don’t want them to get frozen to the bone in there.”

It faded from view. Sans sighed and slumped into his jacket again, the fur lining the collar tickling at his skull. He hadn’t needed the monitor’s warning to know the human had woken up. He could feel them now, an exhausted warmth at his back.

A skeleton had an empty ribcage...so why did he feel a faint heartbeat?

_What the hell did we do, kid?_

Yesterday all he wanted was vengence. And then his internal counter had ticked over nearly half a dozen times, and now he didn’t know what he wanted.

Now…

 _“_ Pap isn’t around to do it for you anymore, bonehead.” Sans let out a disgusted grunt, the bitter words hanging in the hushed silence of the lab. “One way or another, you gotta decide.”

What did he _want?_

_Black._

_Pink._

A heart beating in his chest, one that didn’t exist.

He needed to look up some information about souls. He knew...the basics thanks to-- _static--_ his notes.

A scribbled drawing, his own messy scrawl.

_Don’t Forget._

Something had to change.

He couldn’t keep the loop going.

The image was burned into his memory, black cracks spreading through the struggling soul. He’d...felt it. Oily and thick

Especially if he could talk Alphys over, although he didn’t think he’d have much luck getting the skittish monster to come within twenty feet of this room. He really should let her know...he hadn’t bothered going to her first this time...

Later.

His aborted nap was calling.


	5. Chapter 5

_Click._

_Click._

_Clack._

Claws nervously tapped against the desk, careful to avoid the keys that would change the view. She’d already done it. Twice. In the last half hour. Leaving the human alone and taking a nap--even in one of the reinforced containment cells --was madness! What was Sans thinking? He’s _seen_ what it did! He’d _stopped_ it _._ Saved the king.

_Stopped it._

_Should have killed it._ The nasty section of her mind whispered. _It killed mettaton and undyne and undyne. No one can kill undyne, but it did. One shot, and she was already dead. She was just too stubborn to die._

 _Poor beautiful stubborn_ determined _undyne. That determination killed her._

Alphys shook her head furiously, arm lashing out against the onslaught of despair threatening to crawl up her spine and overtake her, reducing her to a quivering crying heap of garbage. Plastic cases clattered against the floor, thrown from the desk in her desperate swipe. She stared at them for a moment, before it clicked and she gasped, scrambling on the floor to clean them up. N-not… N-no.

She’d...been packing. Those were the ones U-undyne _Undyne_ watched with her. No. No. No.

She clutched a copy of The Seven Sailor Samurai to her chest. She couldn’t see the box art anymore. It was...too...blur…

_Sniff._

_Oh No._

Something wet tickled her hide. She hurriedly wiped it away with the dirty sleeve of her labcoat. No. No tears. _No._

 _Don’t cry Alphys darling._ _I’m going to burn the brightest I can be to light your way to safety!_

She shuddered against the memory of Mettaton’s final text. She’d kept the monsters barricaded in the True Lab even as the demon proceeded to exterminate those she hadn’t been able to evacuate, ushering them through the emergency elevator to the capital where the king had arranged with the ferry guides to scatter them amongst the underground. But there had been so many and the demon would be on them before they’d gotten them all through. And she couldn’t keep them in the lab. Not with the Amalgamates and the high levels of DT down here.

Mettaton had bought them time.

_Don’t cry Alphys darling._

Undyne hadn’t sent her anything. Why should she? She never once believed she could fail. Mettaton had known he would. He known he would--

_Don’t cry._

_Don’t cry._

_Don’t…_

_Tell blooky I--I’m sorry. For leaving._

Napstablook hadn’t been part of the evacuation. She wasn’t even able to fulfill her friend’s dying wish.

It was all that demon’s fault. Everything.

...everything.

Her phone lay on the floor, a black spot against the blinding white. The incoming message light blinked up at her. Transfixing her tear-blurred gaze. She _wasn’t_ crying. Not yet. It wasn’t crying until they fell. She wouldn’t let it. Mettaton told her…

And Undyne never did like crybabies.

_Everything._

She reached for the phone.

The motion sensor on the monitor screamed at her, startling her half out of her hide and sending her diving under her desk. Head down and eyes covered and trembling. She cowered there for a moment before she managed to get her erratic breathing under control enough crawl out. Scolding herself for overreacting.

Skittish little Alphys. Jumping at alarms you set _yourself._ What would Un--

Her throat tightened, threatening to suffocate her.

_Focus. You set that alarm for a reason!_

Claws dug into the desk’s rim as she pulled herself off the floor. Focusing on the movement of her chest as she pulled in air and exhaled. Forcing it passed the lump in her throat.

The pulsing warning symbol still flashed in the corner, although she quickly hit the keystrokes to mute the audible alarm. She didn’t need that grating on her already frayed nerves too.

The human hadn’t moved. It was still huddled in a pitiful looking ball against the glass. She quickly pulled up the feed from the monitoring instruments in a separate window. A quick glance showed that everything looked normal. So what had set off the sensors--

The amalgamate again. She shuddered as it materialized _inside_ the cell. Her claws left grooves in the edges as she clamped down again in her panic. No. No. Get out.  They may be her personal nightmares, but there were _innocent_. Innocent! They didn’t deserve what the demon would do! She’d herded the others into the generator room as soon as she’d noticed Sans and his...prisoner arrive. How, she didn’t know. She hadn’t heard the palace’s elevator activate, and last she saw them was in the judgement hall...

But a door wouldn’t stop the tall one. Just like the glass didn’t. Alphys didn’t see it very often. She tried to remember who it had been, but it was old. One of the first. Name and face and history fading into static. It was just tall, smooth and willowy. She resisted the urge to cover her eyes, yelling at the screen and hating herself for not having installed a PA system. “SANS! SANS! WAKE UP!”

She grabbed her phone, barely glancing at the text. _The King._ Before running. Sprinting as fast as her awkward frame could take her toward the elevator. She didn’t have the skeleton’s number. What would U-u-un--she do?

What else? Go protect those she’d wronged.

“Saaaaaaaans!” She burst through the door, wheezing and gasping and coughing from the dust her flight had clicked up. Then she stopped.

The amalgamate was outside now, its long deformed arm slowly tucking a dark blue blanket around the exhausted skeleton’s shoulders. It didn’t seem to notice her at all. _Pat. Pat._

Once. Twice. It’s long white hand lingered against the smooth bones of Sans’ skull. And then it faded away.

The skeleton hadn’t so much as twitched at her shout, or at the amalgamate’s attentions. Sleeping like the dead. It was only the gentle bobbing of his skull that told her he was alive at all.

She took a step. And then another, peering into the semi-opaque green glass.

A matching blanket was tucked around the demon inside the cell.

Alphys trembled. Her claws clattering against the metal of her phone.

They couldn’t stay here.

The king would know what to do.

He would deal with the demon for good.

And then t-they w-would be free.

J-just like...U-undyne w-would w-want...

“Doc…”

She froze. A single blue-ringed eye was regarding her from over the faded blue blanket, “What have you done, doc?”

A hand came out, the blanket slipping off his shoulder and into his lap. The magic engulfing his eye burned brighter, a small blue flame in one single eye socket. She scrambled back--w-why was she a-afraid of S-sans o-of a-all p-people?

“T-the king deserves to k-know.” She managed to sputter, the phone clattering to the floor from her suddenly sweaty claws, message sent blinking up at them both in the dim light, “W-with t-that s-soul h-he’ll s-save u-us a-all.”

“My bad, kid. It’ll have to be 31.”

He jerked his fist up, Alphys flinched, curling in on herself to protect from the attack--

The bones erupted from the floor of the cell, piercing the human’s chest.


	6. Chapter 6

“W-we s-should t-tell t-the k-king!”

...Alphys was suddenly hit with deja vu. Had they had this conversation before?

I-impossible. S-she’d only barely met him when h-his brother became a sentry. S-she’d s-seen h-him in the c-cameras, but s-she’d s-seen m-many p-people t-through the cameras.

“I already plan to tell him after I check a few things.” Sans’ smile didn’t change at all, but a shiver ran down Alphys’ spine anyway. She eyed him from the relative safety of her desk, trying and failing to come up with a dignified way to crawl out without embarrassing herself further. She’d kinda assumed the worst when she’d heard footsteps in her lab. Everyone else had been evacuated. Imagine her embarrassment when those fuzzy pink slippers stopped right in front of her. Sans didn’t seem to care that he was apparently talking to thin air. He continued. “Think about it Alph. How many monsters they’d killed. None of the other souls had nearly this much LV. Figured the lab was the safest place to keep ‘em. We don’t know how it would effect the king, y’a get me?”

She flushed. Oh. Well. Um. He...had a point. One she desperately tried to think about rather than the amount of people they’d--T-thehe research on LV wasn’t very thorough considering the yellow soul only managed to hit about 5 LV before the royal guard managed to take them down. A--a little time for diagnostics wouldn’t be a _bad_ thing necessarily… Maybe they shouldn’t rush it...couldn’t risk the king after all. S-sans always-- _static--_ had been the one to think about details like that.

“H-how d-did y-you e-even get h-here anyway? I h-had t-the e-elevator l-locked d-down--”

It didn’t even occur to her to ask _how_ Sans knew about this place. His presence seemed oddly familiar here. Like a puzzle piece she never noticed had been missing. She almost felt silly for being afraid of him. Almost. She was still utterly mortified though.

“Oh, you know, just a shortcut.” Something nagged at her about that. But it was fuzzy, and slid through her grasping claws like water. _God Alphys pull yourself together._ _Take a deep breath and pull yourself out from under the desk like a reasonable monster, not literal garbage._

She couldn’t bring herself to move.

“Sorry for breaking and entering--didn’t want to let the human die and risk the soul, you know? It’s the soul good thing to come of this nightmare.”

...that was a terrible joke. But still, it made sense in a way. She even managed a nervous smile. “I-j-just...be _careful_ p-please. You haven’t seen what they _did.”_

“...trust me Alph. _Eye_ ’ve seen enough.” That frozen grin never failed, although the eyelights were barely pinpricks, “They won’t be going anywhere in that state, much less hurt anyone. Talk about a captive audience, ey?”

“I-I g-guess I c-can go find the extractor n-notes.” Alphys mumbled, hunching her shoulders and wringing her stained sleeve as she chewed on the idea. “I-if there is a w-way to separate the DT from the LV it would be safer for the k-king. I-I wish I h-had the blueprints...”

“You might have some luck checking the spare office.” The skeleton offered with a tired shrug, and a lazy handwave, “You know, the one with the broken latch?”

T-that office? With the w-weird letters on the door?

“Ya. It’s...uh...wingdings. I’m not surprised you can’t read it.”

Oops. She hadn’t meant to say anything.

He seemed to sway on his feet, those dim pinpricks of light slowly drifting from her hiding spot to the right, to her--”Hey, mind if I steal your bed for a minute? Stopping a maniac takes a lot out of you, if you know what I mean.”

“G-go a-ahead.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she realized what she was saying. She shook her head rapidly, finally working up the courage to drag herself out from under the desk. Of _course_ he c-couldn’t s-sleep. They c-couldn’t l-leave that t-thing a-alone down t-there.

A gentle whirring sound, and Alphys stood to find to skeleton sprawled out on her suddenly unfolded cube bed, dead to the world. Her fists curled, trembling.

 _What good is an exhausted guard anyway?_ A thought that sounded uncomfortably like U-undyne snarked back. _Let ‘im sleep while the human’s still unconscious._

R-right.

About those notes.

She shuffled down the hall, doing her best to focus on the task at hand and _not_ on the terrorist being held _alone_ down in the lab. S-she n-needed to r-round up the a-amalgamates. T-they w-were curious, a-and s-she didn’t want them a-anywhere n-near t-that t-thing.

_Focus._

LV was dangerous. Strengthening one’s soul through the suffering of another was an act that every young monster learned was wrong. It...changed people.

Would absorbing a tainted soul have the same effect?

She could tell the king right now.

She _should_ tell the king right now, Sans’ request or not.

Freedom was so close.

But if she--Sans--was right...

The underground was devastated.

They couldn’t afford to lose the king too.

Her world had been torn apart.

Her best friend was d-dead.

The one she l-l-lo--

_Don’t cry, Alphys darling._

But...maybe she could make the world a little better for those left behind.

“There’s s-still something you c-can do…” She whispered to herself, shuffling down the dusty hallways, hugging her arms tight. Gripping her stained coat, “K-keep w-walking. If you s-stop y-you w-won’t w-want to s-start a-again.”

She just wanted to find a roomy garbage can to crawl into. Undyne would have kicked her out of it.

S-she had to make sure this worked.

F-for U-Undyne.

“ _I-I love you.”_

The whispered word echoed back at her in the empty hallways. She stopped, took a deep breath, and then started walking again.

She stopped in front of the office, raising a claw and tracing the weird symbols on the nameplate.

Sans had called them wingdings. They’d always been a bit weird, but they’d always been there. Alphys barely ever gave them any thought. They were in comprehensible, but they were familiar. That same script dotted the lab. Both levels of it.

She wondered what they said, and had a sneaking suspicion she’d known once.

_-static-_

Steeling herself, she pushed the door open.

 

\--

“I--I’m not sure if this is okay, Sans.”

He glanced up at her from where he had the research notes spread out across the floor of the upstairs lab. She understood shuffled nervously, stealing glances to the monitor behind him. “I--I mean both of us u-up h-here. T-they’ve h-healed m-mostly. W-what i-if they w-wake up?”

“Ey, it’ll be fine.” San’s dismissal didn’t do much to dispel her misgivings. She worried at the sleeve of her coat, kneading the stained cloth and smoothing it out again. Scrunch. Smush. Scrunch. Smush. “Your warning system is pretty cool, no need to be so _alarmed_.”

She giggled nervously. Was it nervously? Did it sound a little hysterical? Aaah she didn’t know what to do she couldn’t think--

“Alph.”  The skeleton was suddenly in her face instead of across the room. “Breathe.”

She did it.

Oh.

Well.

That was better.

“Good. Don’t need ya freaking out on me doc. ” He nodded, winking. A pressure on her back eased as he drew back. She blinked. Bewildered. Standing up a little straighter.

Had he just…

“hey, don’t worry. We’ll know the moment they wake up.” He lazily motioned toward the monitor at his back.

“B-b-but…” She couldn’t let go so easily. “W-w-we don’t know what LV does to humans. In monsters i-it has a t-tendency to i-increase physical s-strength s-significantly. I-if t-they m-manage to b-break o-out--t-the e-elavator…”

“It would set off every alarm in the lab, plus the timer on the stove for good measure. It’ll be fine.”

“A-a-and there’s n-n-no way w-we c-could m-make it i-in--”

Blue. Yellow.

Alphys flinched as one eyesocket went dark, the other blazing with magic.

And...then gone.

Sans was gone.

She spun around. Bewildered. Lost. Where did he go? Where _could_ he go? She’d just been looking at him--

Alarms blared, sending her scrambling for the monitor. Just the motion alarm thankfully, maybe the human had just rolled over or something--

She just stared.

Sans was nonchalantly standing in front of the containment chamber, waving up at the camera, his eye still flaring blue.

No. Not blue. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before.

Cyan.

_Cyan magic._

Some monsters were really fast. Some, like ghosts, could just phase through solid objects. Both of those were impossible here. Blue magic was the manipulation of gravity...Was cyan magic the manipulation of _space?_ It, along with Muffet’s purple magic was a fairly rare magical affinity, and Alphys didn’t even think she’d even _seen_ a scan of it before. Oh god it was so exciting she _needed_ to convince him to let her study it. She could just imagine it, it--it was like when Mew Mew meets the new enemy in season 2 and--and--

“Teleportation.” She breathed. The moment anything happened he could be down there. Another flare of magic, and he was gone again, Alphys muted the alarms, counting the seconds in her head, _One...tw--_

She spun as gracefully as she could on her stumpy legs. Which, to be fair, wasn’t very graceful all all. Sans stood near his previous placement, grin unchanged, although the magic faded from his eye. _Near_ but not quite the same. Not just a straight up swap then. “Less than two seconds…” Astonished. Why hadn’t he used it during the fight with the human? Surely it would have been over quicker.

“It tires me out too quick,” Wait, had she said it outloud? Her cheeks burned in embarrassment even as he shrugged. “P--my bro wanted me to train with him when he was preparing to join the sentries. We found out fast I can’t take too many shortcuts.”

_“Oh, you know, just a shortcut.”_

The atmosphere suddenly wilted, the weight of the situation all but killing Alphys’ sudden enthusiasm. She...hadn’t known Sans’ brother well. Just through U-undyne’s rants and occasional praises of the boneheaded skeleton with too much heart but an admirable amount of fiery passion. They’d met once, but she really didn’t want to think about it. She _really_ didn’t want to think about it.

Didn’t want to think of a lone winter’s night in Snowdin. Being dragged along as U-u-undyne’s +1 was a dream come true even if she knew it was just as a friend. She didn’t want to think of how proud the tall skeleton had been, serving up a plate of near frozen spaghetti. How U-undyne had caught him in a headlock, loudly demanding everyone give a round of applause for Snowdin’s newest sentry. Not that there were many people. Just Alphys. Undyne. Papyrus. and...

“ _Long time no see, Alph.”_

_Static._

“Breathe.” The suggestion snapped her out of it. The skeleton wasn’t even looking at her, seated cross legged on the floor. He tapped a finger against one fuzzy pink slipper, the other hand carefully sifting through the pile of documents before him. Alphys didn’t even know where he’d found them. She’d always used the computer to record her findings--it was s-so e-easy to l-lose p-paper a-and it w-was s-so m-messy...

_bone white hands holding a clipboard, floating free...taking notes in a series of symbols she recognized but even now still had difficulty reading._

...the extractor schematics had been handwritten, hadn’t they? She’d been pouring over them all night, found in that same back office written in those same weird symbols as the name plate. _Wingdings._

The beginning of a headache was building  behind her eyes.

“T-tests. I should r-run the s-scans.” Turning her back, she fled.

Not that she could go very far.

The monitor was only a few meters further away, but those meters allowed her a little more space to-- _breathe--_ relax. She pointedly ignored the camera feed that took up the majority of the main screen--the alarms would tell her if anything happened--and instead the keys clattered as she typed a few prompts into the command line. Another screen appeared, covering the live feed partially, although if she squinted she could still make it out through the semi-transparent window. She didn’t want to though.

The human’s soul was a tiny heart in the corner. The magical profile matched the red magic, but she searched for the records from the more generalized diagnostic equipment on a side monitor. To her surprise, they’d been activated longer than she expected. The records stretched at _least_ four hours before Sans had approached her. Given the readings, it was a good thing. The human would have died within the hour if the container’s healing aura hadn’t been activated. It’d taken over half a day for the human to stabilize as it was.

But...

This wasn’t right.

 _She’d_ built that machine. She’d built it in an attempt to stabilize the amalgamates, pumping harvested green magic through an amplifier to try and support their failing bodies.

Not even the king knew about it, a-although she h-had planned on making the commands more user friendly and r-releasing it to the public. E-eventually. The coding was a mess.

Sans always had been good with machines...

_Static._

...right?

“...you okay?” She looked away, Sans hadn’t moved, but she could feel his eyelights prickling her spines.

“I--I--” She took a deep breath again. Despite the details not adding up, something was still telling her to trust him. Somehow he _knew_ what she’d done. And that knowledge was both a weight easing from her back and yet another noose around her neck.

She balled her claws into a fist. Did she ask? Did she dare? Could she summon the courage to stop with all the lies?

“I-it’s j-just...weird.” She finished lamely, deflating. Of course. If she couldn’t even tell U-undyne about it, why could she tell essentially a complete stranger? “I-I’m looking at t-the DT l-levels r-recorded since you brought it in. I-it...changed, see?”

She tensed as she heard the shuffling of cloth and paper, but still didn’t turn, hyper aware of the approaching footfalls as the skeleton leaned over her hunched shoulder. Her claws shook as she pointed out the trend, plotting the array of numbers onto a graph. Ups and downs. Ups and downs. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was explaining. No one else really knew about DT--she was the only one left of the team who studied it.

... _team?_

“A-a-anyway. H-human s-souls s-shouldn’t _do_ that. I-I have the baselines f-from the o-other six souls. T-they have a b-base DT rating, usually b-between 7 and 8, depending on the strength of the s-soul. M-monsters can get as high as 2 safely--” _Oh god I’m rambling stop it Alphys breathe at least it’s **Sans** not Dr-- “_b-but this... i-it’s g-got a below a-average b-baseline, o-only 6, b-but it’s d-dipped a-as l-low as 5 and s-spiked a-as high a-as 9 a-at times.”

Sans’ sharp intake a breath startled her, but he didn’t really seem to want to say something so she continued, “I-it c-could be t-that s-souls stabilize to t-their b-base DT o-once t-they are e-extracted--this is the f-first t-time I-I’ve s-scanned a s-still l-living one. That t-the levels change at all is fascinating, if human souls are more flexible than o-originally t-thought--I w-would h-have t-thought they b-be m-more r-rigid--”

“Do you have the data for their LV too?”

Alphys mentally smacked herself. She’d gone on a tangent again. They weren’t here to study the DT. She nervously shook her head. “I-I--we--I-it j-just w-wasn’t an area of r-research we have m-much data for.  I--d-during the w-war o-one of the previous scientists m-managed t-to create a s-scale to q-quantify LV gain in m-monsters, b-but it never w-was a priority research on the human s-souls a-after w-we w-were trapped. U-unless w-we can figure out how to isolate the LV in s-scans, e-even if the DT readings are promising signs t-that a human s-soul is f-flexible e-enough to s-survive the r-removal…”

“If I show you the pattern, think you could copy it doc?”

She stopped. Froze. And then finally turned around. And squeaked. She hadn’t realized he was so close. Here snout was mere centimeters away from the fluff of her jacket. Sans hadn’t been looking at her, although his eyelights did flicker in her direction and he took a step back to give her more space. His shoulders were still slouched. His posture still relaxed. Skull grinning that same old grin…

… but for some reason it just made her even more nervous.


	7. Chapter 7

“Time to get up, kiddo.”

 Deja vu dripped off the words like a tangible goo.  The soul wriggled against his magic, but it was halfhearted at best. They knew it even better than anyone, it was useless. He dragged them closer towards the glass wall with careful tugs--he was so damn tired of this.

  _Don’t make it 32 kid._

 He’d put in too much work this time, managing Alphys and his own research, the thought of losing that to one of the kid’s resets chilled him to the bone.

  _Or your own._

 He...tried not to think about that. Seeing the message sent on Alphys’ phone had cracked something in him. Knowing that the king would come…

 He’d killed them before. Many times. But never to _force_  a reload.

 They’d… _looked_ at him differently, this time. They’d tried to say something. Choked on their own blood.

The tell-tale black cracks hadn’t appear, but Sans had wasted no time grabbing the human and taking the shortcut, focusing on the weak heartbeat he could just barely feel. He had needed to put off talking to Alphys again to make sure they didn’t kick the bucket, but this time he made sure to do it before she got the bright idea to contact the king. Even if he’d been dead on his feet at that point.

The research wasn’t just a distraction either. The kid only went crazy when that black stuff appeared. He was _positive_  that was a result of the LV. If they could get rid of that… maybe…

Maybe the kid would finally agree to reset.

Maybe.

He had no idea if it would work. But it was the only thing he could think of.

He’d only seen one monster with even half that much LV and Sans _-static-_ didn’t want to think about the _King_ of all monsters going through the same sort of downward spiral.

Especially a boss monsters with the power of _seven_ human souls. The stories of the king’s kid with one was bad enough.

“...why…?”

The kid’s voice was quiet, cracking, muffled through the glass. Sans ignored it. He saw Alphys flinch and back away out of the corner of his eyesocket, holding the clipboard tight to her chest.  He’d had to coerce her into bringing it for notes. She never did like handwriting things.

Luckily the kid seemed to notice too, their tired eyes traveling from him, to Alphys and then back to him. Before closing.  In acceptance? Despair? In pain? Shouldn’t they understand what they’ve _done?_ _Why_ Alphys would respond this way?

 _She_ didn’t have 6 extra reloads to grow numb, 2 that he remembered _perfectly._ Sans envied her.

Sans ignored the question like he hadn’t heard it, beckoning Alphys closer, “You use yellow magic right?”

Really, Sans was impressed her bones haven’t jumped straight out of her skin with the amount of times he’d seen her jump like that. She hadn’t been _that_ bad when they’d worked with-- _static._

Well. Being forced to work alone instead of in a team probably had something to do with that, given the nervous personality he remembered.

“I-I-yes b-but w-what’s t-that g-got t-to...”

“Pull out your scanner thing and _look_ at it.”

“H-how d-did y-you--”

Sans gathered a small amount, his vision dimming and his eye flashing yellow briefly. He held onto the yellow, not the cyan that usually followed. He tried to ignore the phantom heart racing, amplified by his use of perception magic. Was the human scared? Worried? He felt them limp in his grip, but their soul was trembling… “First it’ll feel all oily, that’s the LV. If you can stomach it, look closer at the colors, there’s a variation there. You should see a pattern, darker red--”Well,  blue. He _was_ holding the human’s soul right now, as close to the glass as he could without making Alphys flinch.

“Th-there’s...something…”The yellow magic was an amorphous blob around her left  eye, slowly--agonizingly slowly--forming into a curved lense. “I-I-s-shouldn’t m-my m-monitors s-show t-this?”

“Nah. Machines don’t always recognize what they’re seeing unless you tell ‘em what to look for.” Sans shrugged with one shoulder, the other hand outstretched and holding the human in place, “Sometimes you need to get up-close and _personal_ before you can see the difference.”

“H-how c-can you--”

“I’ma sentry, Alph. It’s my job to look at things. Usually trees, snow, the occasional snowdin delinquent…”

He’d always been able to see weird things. Feeling them shouldn’t have been too far of a stretch.

 _Scratch. Scratch._ The pen began to scratch furiously against the paper. _Heh. Glad you listened to me now, Alph?_

The kid’s soul’s trembling began to intensify. He glanced up to find they were balling their fists, trying to draw back, away from the glass. Why--

Oh. The doc seemed to have forgotten her reservations, nearly pressing her snout against the glass. The magic had finally solidified into the little lense device he remembered, and whatever it was showing her seemed to be enthralling. He just smiled as the pen flew a mile a minute, a small spiderweb of lines appearing on the small sketch, the pen occasionally darting to the side to make a note or another.

“I’ve...seen this before…” Alphys mumbled. To herself or to Sans he wasn’t sure if really mattered. I--It’s concentrated determination. _That’s_ why it wasn’t showing any difference in the scans. But not...human determination.”

The phenomenon known as Levels of Violence...was measured by one thing. The amount of monster residue a soul absorbed.

Monsters may not have as much, but they _did_ have determination. And that determination was the one thing that remained when all turned to dust. It made sense.

Sans slid his hand into his pocket. Fingerbones curling around the badge he’d grabbed when he picked up his-static-’s notes.

 An old, worn badge exactly the match to the newer one on Alphys’ labcoat.

 He didn’t fight the static as it made his him feel light headed. The badge was a solid anchor as it pressed against bone.

 Some monsters had more determination than others. Their bodies just...couldn’t always handle it.  Alphys’ own research proved that.

 He’d been reaching for someone. Trying to grab a falling hand. Someone he couldn’t allow himself to forget, but the world wouldn’t let him remember.

 “---ans. S--sans!” He blinked, vision clearing as his eyelights brightened. Clearing to a mostly yellow blob. Alphys’ snout in his face. “A--ah. Sorry. I must have dozed off.”

 “Y-you can p-put them down n-now. I--I think I know what to look for now.”

 ...how long had he been out? He couldn’t even tell. She’d barely started on her first sketch from what he remembered. Now she had a whole sheaf of them in her fist.

 “Careful there, you’ll slice straight through that if you hold it much tighter.”

 She glanced down the paper, and took a visible breath. Easing the tension in her grip. He couldn’t help but beam at her. Good. He didn’t even have to say it.

 “T-there’s a reason I type all my notes.” She grumbled,  only turning a little pink. “I--I’m going to go see if I c-can re-write the program. S-see if I can get it to register that pattern. If I can isolate it with the m-monitor, the e-extractor s-should be easy.” He forgave her the “I hope.” under her breath.

 “Go on.” He waved his hand, releasing his hold on the human’s soul with the motion, letting their body slip to the ground. The small thump made her flinch, “I’m gonna monitor our little prisoner for a while. It’ll be fine.”

Her weak protest was brushed aside easy enough, and soon he was alone.

Well. That illusion was shattered soon enough.

“...sans?”

The kid’s voice was weak. But he could hear them behind him. Feel the trembling of their soul as if he still held it. They leaned up against the glass, though they flinched back a few paces when he pulled his hands out of his pockets. Thinking of the last time? When he’d skewered them through?

“Y-you remember...don’t you? Everything?”

He raised them in an exaggerated shrug, rolling his shoulders. Not even turning to look at them.

 “Only the last two. I told ya. I can’t afford not to care anymore. I didn’t just mean that about fighting.”

 If the kid said any more, Sans wasn’t listening


	8. Chapter 8

 

You don’t know how much time has passed.

Sometimes you wake and the skeleton is there. Sometimes not. Once or twice you spotted a yellow dinosaur engrossed in one of nearby monitors, although she was quick to scurry away if she ever caught you awake. That was different. You remember the one time she’d pressed close to the glass, her eyes shining with wonder and excitement as Sans held you in the air. It had...hurt. It made you think of the first time you met her. When she’d been legitimately excited to be helping you.

You sit in your little cell, staring at the floor. Saying nothing. Doing your best to think of nothing.

But really you can’t help it.

You think of brighter times. Of the sunset. Of Sans and Toriel swapping bad puns on the cliff overlooking the old city. Of Undyne and Alphys happy. Of Papyrus running off and Sans rolling after him to keep him out of trouble.

You even remember Flowey, peeking over your windowsill, begging you to be happy with your ending.

But you couldn’t be happy, could you?

And now you are here, trapped by your own friends. The ONLY two friends you have left, neither of which care about you other than as a murderer. Wanted for, not only your soul, but to answer for the crime of mass genocide. A science geek and a cryptic skeleton planning to do who knows what with your tainted soul.

You glance at your hands, remembering how they looked as you pushed open the door to New Home. Grey, covered in dust. Red, as you lay dying in the hall of judgement. You can see both of those colors now, and you shudder, forcing your gaze up and away.

You stand abruptly, your leg cramping and almost collapsing beneath your weight. You really should move more often, but you didn’t care then, and you really don’t care now. You can already feel the ambient green magic working on soothing the muscle, and soon the pain fades to pins and needles.

Something feels off about today. The atmosphere hangs heavy over your head. You always feel as if you were being watched, and probably were through the cameras, but there’s something different now. The oppressive air makes your throat clench and but you steel yourself and it fills you with--

_No._

Well, you can’t fault me for trying. It sucks having to reload there over and over again.

You don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve seen the skeleton. Long enough for you to fall asleep and wake up again. He doesn’t say much when he does visit, anymore. It feels weird, knowing that he _knows._ At least a little bit. He just stands there behind the glass. Watching you. Judging you.

Waiting.

You know exactly what he wants desperately to ask. And now he knows what your answer will be.

A sound down the hall. You turn your head, listening. It’s muffled through the thick glass, so it must be loud.

_Thump._

_Thump._

Maybe the Endogeny escaped wherever the lizard locked them up. When you first woke up here you wondered why you never saw any of the amalgamates. Of course scared little Alphys would do her best to keep them away from the murderous human.

_Thump._

_Thump._

Footfalls. Definitely. You lean up against the glass as a large silhouette appears in the distance. It comes closer and closer, much taller than the Endogeny and too thick to be the Reaperbird…

You lurch backwards, fear and terror and love and grief gripping your heart. The sight before you fills you with a dread that not even seeing Sans kill you 30 times could bring to the forefront. You’ve known this was coming. The skeleton warned you.

King Asgore Dreemurr stood on the other side of the glass, the old fool’s sad eyes staring down at you and boring into you and ripping you to shreds with his _kindness_ and _understanding_ and _pity._

“Oh child…” Even his voice was heavy, “What have you _done?”_

The emotions you’ve been battling knotted your throat so you couldn’t even utter a single cry.

You’ve waited long enough. It’s time to choose, Frisk.

Can you hold to your decision to _truly_ die, now that it’s staring you in the face?

Imperceptible seams in the glass split and parted as a curved section sank into the floor. Asgore took a step forward, his massive bulk nearly blocking the entryway completely. You back away, step by horrified step. _No._ You mouth wordlessly, unable to get the sounds past the tightness in your throat.

Somehow you’d put your faith in the skeleton. Staring death in the face was almost a physical blow. Hadn’t you wanted to die? To _end_ it? Did you really think you’d escape judgement because your executioner was too lazy and selfish to finish the job?

I smile and reach for our soul, taking that as an answer.

_Game Over._

There’s no way you can talk your way out of this.

I won’t let him stand in my way, but then again you knew that, didn’t you partner? We’ve killed him before, even if we didn’t strike the final blow then.

Our soul materialized, beating black in a single beat. The old fool barely slowed. The skeleton had stolen my worn knife, it’s true, but I was never truly unarmed.

_NO!_

The soundless shriek echoed in my--our--head. I stumbled, losing the concentration. You just keep screaming. “ _SHUT UP! SHUT UP!”_

I’m trying to protect _YOU._

My partner.

My soul.

Asgore’s hand lifts, his large paw flashing bone thin. Our soul shudders painfully, waiting for the vice of blue magic to slam us to the ground--

Then reason returns. The skeleton is nowhere to be seen. I shunt you aside, balling our hands into fists. LV strengthens us. The magic of all the monsters we’ve killed strengthens us. We square our body, waiting for the red trident to materialize from the depths of his soul. We know his patterns. We know his reluctance. We aren’t fully healed, but our hard fought LV bouys our aching body. Wear him down, and I could take him out with a single punch.

Just like Flowey had.

But the red never comes. Suddenly pain lances through us. Yellow and weak and sparking. Our body convulses involuntarily, and we fall to the ground with an embarrassing thud.

I glare daggers at the nervous yellow lizard behind Asgore, small yellow sparks of magic shaking from her claws.

Weak.

So weak.

But enough.

Your relief is obvious as our vision fades out, limbs going numb as the magic fulfills its purpose.

Sometimes, partner, sometimes I believe I could learn to hate you.

But I will not give up. I reach for our soul, digging my claws into it. It shudders and splinters and I can hear you howling in pain that even the dinosaur’s incapacitating magic can’t stop.

Your soul is mine. _He_ can’t have it. _No one_ can have it.

You struggle to hold it together, just as you did the last time I shattered it. For someone so determined to die, you really seem to want to live this time.

I wanted to laugh at the irony.

It only made me angry.

 X-x-x

Asgore caught the child with such tenderness, Alphys almost couldn’t believe what they were going to do.

She shook the sparks from her claws, shuddering, jittery as the magical residue still lingered in her system. She--she didn’t like Fighting. Her magic was weak. Useless. It was a momentary distraction.

But channeled through the container’s amplification field, it had been more than enough.

“T-the e-extractor is t-this w-way, s-sir.”

“I wish you would have told me sooner… This could have all been over.” She flinched at that. It wasn’t accusing at all, just wistful, but Alphys couldn’t help but take it as a punch to the gut. She hunched her shoulders, trying her hardest to resist curling in on herself defensively. Not the time. Not the _time._ “ _I--U-uh..._ W-we--It was too _dangerous_. S-sans has been gathering research s-scraps for _days_. T-there’s plenty of evidence t-that...that…” Her voice progressively got quieter,  her steps slowing as she hung her head.

Would it really matter to the king? Did...any of their excuses or reasons stand up against his sad eyes and determined posture as he strode toward what needed to be done. Alphys chewed on her lip, shuffling after him as fast as her little legs could carry her.

She wished Sans were here. She’d frozen when she opened the door to find the King shadowing her doorstep, asking her why she hadn’t been answering his messages in that worried way of his. Was she hurt? Did she know what happened? The evacuees were safe, but worried, did she have any news?

Admittedly, she’d been hiding from her phone for days, afraid of the guilt bubbling to the surface as her unread messages slowly began to skyrocket. She’d kept herself busy, buried her head in code and DT levels and little simulated souls and tried to forget there was a world outside holding its breath.

Maybe if Sans had been there he could have deflected it. Taken the King’s sad eyes off her for the moments it would have taken for her brain to catch up with the present.

But he hadn’t. He wasn’t. And now here they were.

This was what she wanted right? The King had the demon. They would be free.

She buried her head in her claws, her heart thudding with each of the king’s heavy footfalls. She could only hope everything she’d done was enough.

_P-please let me be right._

_P-please let_ **something** _go right._

  _x-x-x_

“‘Ey Alph, I hope you don’t mind but I stopped by that old turtle’s on the way back. Can you believe he’s still set up in Waterfall?”

Sans glanced around, his voice echoing oddly in the large space. The area before the giant monitor was just as much of a mess as he’d left it, with one of Alphys’ simulations and a DT plot running and taking up the bulk of the security feed. His mashup of parchment scraps and diagrams was a _different_ kind of mess from Alphys’ abandoned laptop and empty chisp bags, but the scene left him a little nostalgic.

There’d been no point in trying to reconnect, before. She never remembered.

He walked to the console, depositing the Kelp flavored Sea Tea on the edge with a careless shrug. She’d find it eventually. He slid the dictionary next to it, along with a couple more references he’d grabbed from his workshop. she’d probably gone down to feed the Amalgamates or something.

He hadn’t been gone that long. They needed to modify the DT extractor in order to use it to remove just the LV, instead of the entire soul, but Alphys had been having trouble reading the wingdings on the schematics she found in the d--static--old back office. Sans could translate, but even he was a bit rusty. After so many resets he just… stopped practicing. The complicated concepts were beyond his fuzzy memories.

...there were many things he’d just...given up on. After all, what was the point?

Even now, he was actively _trying_ for a reset. None of this would matter, if he succeeded.

Well, his cache of notes in the workshop would be a bit bigger, if it worked the way it usually did. And he’d probably an extra nightmare or two.

A butterfly fluttered in his gut. He didn’t much want to think about the nightmares. Dread weighed on his tired shoulders, threatening to drag him down into a pile of listless apathy.

If...this worked...then what?

He’d have Pap back. That was worth _anything_. But...how could he prevent all this from happening again?

Believe? Trust that the kid could stop...whatever it was they were afraid of?

_Afraid…_

The fluttering turned to terror. The world dimmed. He was trapped. It was cold. Tight. He couldn’t breathe.

That wasn’t him.

He was halfway there already, reaching and stepping as the cyan magic whirled around him. When his vision returned, he was in the dimly lit chamber, standing before a gaping hole, the access panel wide open.

The human was gone.

Closer now, he reached for their soul. The sense of space was stifling. In his head he knew he had plenty of space in this sizeable room, but it _felt_ like he was being stuffed into a box half his size--

A mechanical whine echoed through the corridors.

Sans reached and stepped. He knew what that sound meant.

“Alph wait!” His voice was almost lost in the sound of the machinery rattling to life, even as he staggered out of the shortcut. The eyes of the skull-like machine were glowing a deep fiery red. The console was--and then froze.

“Y-you s-said you t-told him, S-sans.”

He could barely see Alphys beyond the boss monster’s large bulk. She’d turned at his shout, but was trembling, clenching her claws. The King stood between them, having positioned himself on one of the catwalks overlooking the machine. He’d barely even noticed Sans’ entrance.

Sans swallowed his words. He had said that. He hadn’t expected Asgore to leave the castle.

Was he prepared to go against the king? For a creature like _that?_

“What about the LV?” He forced himself to act casually, yelling at her would only rile her up more. “Are you going to risk it?”

Claws clicked against the keyboard. The hum began growing louder. He could feel the kid’s soul racing. Could _hear_ the small fists impacting against the metal, trying to escape. He felt each impact as a shiver up his spine.

“W-we don’t n-need to e-extract the LV, Sans.” She took a heavy, steadying breath, “J-just the s-soul. J-just the _human’s_ DT. Not the rest.”

LV was monster DT. It would work.

“That’ll kill ‘em, doc.”

“They k-killed everyone _else_!” Alphys cried out, pounding her claws against the keyboard in a loud clatter. She whirled around, glaring at him with the glimmer of tears gathered in the corner of her eyes. He faltered. He’d known Alph for a long time, and he’d…

Never…

Seen her so resolved.

He envied her.

She was trembling. From fear. From anger. From grief. Hell it could have been all three. Probably was.

“They are d-dead and g-gone and it’s _all_ the fault of t-that t-thing in there! And you want to p-protect t-that!?”

“Alph--”

“No Sans. You listen to m-me!” The lizard steeled herself, “T-that soul represents the _only_ h-hope we have left! The h-hopes and d-dreams U-undyne wanted to protect! W-we need to be thinking about the m-monsters who are left alive! N-not the o-ones who are dead!”

“Well said.” Asgore rumbled with a sad smile. He spared her a grief filled glance, before focusing on Sans once more, “I understand your grief, young one. Too many lives have been lost. But we cannot go back. No matter how much we wish to.”

_Yes we can!_

But no words came out. Only his ragged breathing. He...he didn’t know what to do.

They didn’t understand.

How could they understand.

Could Sans explain it?

The Kid screamed. The phantom heart pounded in his chest. Sharp knives of pain as the soul shuddered. It wanted to crack. To shatter. To reload.

The machine had been designed to hold human souls together. It wouldn’t work.

_Did he even have time to try?_

They could move on. They could break the barrier. Despite the losses, monster-kind could _live._ They would mourn. They would survive. They would be _free._

But… the thought of a world without Papyrus’ wide smile…

It filled him with determination.

_I’m sorry._

Asgore’s eyes looked sad. He let out a sigh.

_I refuse to let this be the last reset._

Magic blazed in his eye. Distantly he could hear Alphys squeak. Heard her claws clatter against the floor. Sans reached for the shortcut _Sorry Alph._

And then she faded. Everything did. Everything except the king and the kid’s screaming.

_Asgore Dreemurr blocks the way._

“Heh...you couldn’t make this easy for me, eh?”

“Afraid not.” The king hefted the trident effortlessly, “Back down, Sans. I do not wish to lose anyone else this day.”

The screaming echoed in his skull. Sans rattled his bones lazily, loosening the joints

Damn it. Sans never did like crying kids.

 

X-x-x

Alphys couldn’t keep her eyes on the monitor. On the steadily dropping DT levels as the machine worked on extracting  the human’s soul. Instead she was riveted by the battle playing out before her. The King’s weapon made wide sweeps through the room, wreathed in orange magic. In blue. In Orange again. Her heart thudded in her chest each time Sans barely dodged, his cyan magic shimmering around him again and again as he just seemed to fade in and out of the attack patterns.

_He-He only has one HP!_

She wanted to scream, but her throat seemed to have closed on itself.

E-even i-if he _had_ lied… S-she didn’t want him to die _too._

“Alph.” The skeleton skidded to a halt just a few feet away from her. His shoulders were heaving, shaking with the effort. Beads of sweat seemed to roll down his skull, and that steadily glowing blue eye glanced up at her. She froze, even as she knew he couldn’t do anything to her. His magic was still very much focused on the ongoing battle. “Don’t you remember how we met?”

“H-how…” She frowned, but he was gone, vanishing as a series of fireballs turned the spot he was standing into a sooty mess.

How they’d met?

It’d been when Papyrus was inducted into the sentries...wasn’t it? Undyne had declared she’d been spending too much time in that dusty old nerd cave and dragged her all the way out to Snowdin to inspect the new recruits…

_“Long time no see, Alph.”_

That _had_ to have been the first time...right?

...right?

The king blocked a flurry of bones with deft motions of his weapon, but Sans wasn’t trying very hard. He just kept dodging. Rings of fire. Sweeping strokes. He was breathing heavily--skeletons didn’t _need_ to breathe right? H-he didn’t want to hurt the king.

R-right?

She’d seen him fight in the judgement hall. He hadn’t even tried to summon the blaster things.

“There’s a way to save them Alph.” And he was in front of her again, shaking knees clattering as he leaned against a wall, trying to catch his breath during the brief respite before the king could summon another attack. “You may not remember but--our research. With the timelines. Everything.”

And a flash of yellow and he was gone again, the orange glowing blade smashing into the floor.

“It’s true.”

She whirled, but she couldn’t see him. She couldn’t find him. Just his voice, a ghost on the wind.

 _Research?_ S-she’d n-never done any research with S-sans. N-not until recently. He w-was just the brother of her b-best friend’s f-friend...

...right?

_So why did you listen to him?_

She shifted uncomfortably at the thought.

_Why didn’t you call Asgore immediately?_

B-because S-sans…

...asked her not to.

...her head felt heavy. Fuzzy. Why. Why couldn’t she remember.

With an earshattering screech the machine died. Tearing her eyes away from the fight, Alphys frantically input the correct output sequence. Stupid. She’d gotten distracted. The extractor was mostly automated, and had a built in buffer to keep the soul from deteriorating, but she still needed to get in there and transfer it to one of the soul containers just to be _safe._

The machine began to hum again. She could hear the battle crashing behind her as Asgore’s trident continued to tear up the tiles of her lab. Even as she tried to focus, she couldn’t help but wonder how long Sans could keep up this pace…

With a rattle, the red energy began to flow through the metal pipes, away from the main bulk of the reactor. She directed it through the channels, and checked the seal on the soul container as she reached for the valve. The DT levels on the main monitor had fallen to one, even as the levels in the jar began to rise, an answering red glow beginning to coalesce in the sealed glass. She winced as she wiped sweaty palms against her stained coat. Normally it would have zeroed out, but her improvised program had isolated the monster DT, and that still remained in the human’s body. She swallowed. It was almost at a full 3 on the scale. That as almost half the soul’s base DT from her initial scan.. H-how...many monsters had b-been k-killed to leave _that_ much?

The hum fell away, and the light settled into a faintly glowing red heart. Weaker than it should be, cracked and splintering and missing chunks where the darkest concentrations had been...but... intact and floating in the center of the jar. Alphys let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. She turned away from the monitor. Toward the sealed container.

It was done.

Over.

...she didn’t see the DT in the machine begin to rise again.

 

X-x-x

It was dark in here. Cramped. Metal pushing inward. I may be trapped. I may be weaponless.

But I Am DETERMINATION.

And you, dear Alphys, just _stole_ something from me.

 

X-x-x

He dropped to his knees as the crying suddenly cut off. Leaving his head eerily empty. The frantic beat in his chest was gone. Asgore’s trident came down. Down. Down.

And passed through him. Blue.

_Think of blue stop signs._

He couldn’t help the hyena laugh that rattled out of him at that. Tears leaking from black eye sockets. He couldn’t even summon the strength to summon his eyelights. It was over. He couldn’t feel the kid anymore. The will driving him forward suddenly vanished into a cloud of dust, and with it scattered all hope of seeing his brother again.

He could feel the king towering over him. A heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

_Asgore is sparing you._

His shoulders shook, alternating between laughing and sobbing silently. His options hovered before him. Fight. Act. Mercy.

What was the point of it all?

What was the point of trying?

Why had he _waited?_

Alphys’s claws clicked against the floor as she shuffled closer, “G-gods S-sans a-are y-you--”

And then she halted with a screech. “Y-you--S-sans--H-how--”

He didn’t look up. Just kept his eyes on the floor. On the three options before him.

Fight.

Act.

Mercy.

_Crack._

“ _SANS!”_

She sounded so far away.

_“Oh god oh god. Was he hit? Asgore! You have healing magic right!?”_

They tried to reach him, but he pushed them all away.

_Crack._

He ignored it all. If this was the last reset, he wanted nothing to do with it.

_I’m sorry Pap. I shouldn’t have waited._

_Crack._

_I should have killed them when I had the chance._

_As many times as I needed to._

_I...I think I’m going to go to Grillby’s._

He dragged himself to his feet. Inch. By. Inch. Large paws gripped him by his bony shoulders. Alphys was screaming at him not to move. They didn’t matter anymore.

_...want anything pap?_

_YOU KNOW I DON’T CARE FOR ALL THAT GREASE, SANS._

_Oh yeah. Worth a shot anyway. I can go alone._

_OH STOP BEING SO MELODRAMATIC AND LISTEN, LAZYBONES._

Mind blank, Sans did.

_I THINK THERE’S SOMEONE ELSE WHO WOULD JOIN YOU._

In the silence, a phantom heart beat in his chest. So faint he could barely feel it. So slow it might have been his desperate imagination. But if he just...reached…

_“S-Sans p-please. N-not you t-too.”_

_Ping._

If he just pulled.

Glass shattered.

That cold fire beat in his hands. With the last of his strength, he stepped, cradling that shattered soul protectively. To the one place that was safe.

Cold tile. The smell of dust. A photo album of futures.

The world faded away to nothing. Three options changed to two.

Continue?

Or Reset?

The fire was broken, just like he was. A cracked mess of shards barely being held together by pure will. It recoiled from the choice. But...it didn’t refuse.

_SEE? THEY AREN’T HAPPY EITHER._

It seeped into the cracks of his splintered soul, filling them with hesitant warmth.

...filling them with determination.

His hand slowly reached toward the option he wanted more than anything.

_I THINK THEY JUST DIDN’T WANT TO GO ALONE._

“ _...stop me…”_

A small hand was lying over his. Hesitantly.

“... _promise me you’ll stop me.”_

_...you know me and promises, kiddo._

It didn’t pull away,

The red soul shattered, and Sans’s went with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continues in part 2 -- Reset!


End file.
